August 20, 2023 11: 00 am ET
BOSTON – Sean O’Malley increased to the event and knocked out Aljamain Sterling to claim the bantamweight title at UFC 292 under situations that were les than suitable.
Although he attained an basically perfect triumph en path to a second-round TKO of Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) in the headlining bout at TD Garden, the weeks leading up to O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) stepping in the octagon were filled with challenge and difficulty.
An upper body muscle injury afflicted O’Malley’s preparation, he stated, and entirely gottenridof the capability to prepare for Sterling’s top-level grappling over the last 6 weeks of camp.
“I sanctuary’t grappled in 6 weeks,” O’Malley informed MMA Junkie and other pressreporters after his UFC 292 title win. “I had a muscle stress and I actually couldn’t grapple for 6 weeks. (I) couldn’t MMA spar. I was the primary occasion in Boston. There was no opportunity I was pulling out. But we sanctuary’t grappled in 6 weeks. Six weeks (ago) today, I had a muscle pressure right under my rib and I couldn’t grapple. So coming into this battle and battling Aljo, when I did interviews, I was stating, ‘Life or death: I cannot get taken down,’ duetothefactthat I didn’t understand if (the injury) would hold up – and it’s f*cking aching best now.
“Dealing with those psychological devils coming into this battle understanding I was injured-ish – we didn’t grapple one day the last 6 weeks.”
Given his constraints, the battle unfolded ideal for O’Malley. He prevented being taken down on both of Sterling’s atte